As hard as the next few hours were going to be, he knew what he had to do. He grabbed his coat and took off out of the basement for the hospital…

Jackie's hospital room

Hyde gently pushed open the door to the room he last saw his doll in. There hadn't been any change. And Kitty was still there, like she promised.

"Steven, the doctor was here and they're easing back on Jackie's medicine. She should be coming out of this soon, and then they will be able to tell what other things she may need. So, we have to watch her closely. It will be very difficult for her to wake up with a tube down her throat, if no one is here to help explain it to her."

"I'll be here"

"Okay, honey" Kitty wasn't sure if Hyde being there was the best idea. But she knew him well enough not to argue with him on this. She just hoped that Jackie would react well to seeing him there when she woke up.

Kitty started for the door. "I'll let Eric & Donna know what's happening. I'm sure they'll want to be here when she wakes up."

"She's really going to wake up?"

"Yes, Steven. She's really going to wake up. Do you know what you're going to say to her when she does?"

"Yeah, I know." Hyde had been pursing his lips, but after he told Kitty that he knew what he was going to say to Jackie, he reversed it. Kitty knew that he was trying to hold it together, so she dropped the issue and left the room.

Hyde pulled up a chair to Jackie's bedside and gently took her hand in his. It seemed warmer than it was yesterday, he thought. He also thought she looked like she had a little more color in her face. She was still ghastly pale, but Hyde thought he saw some pink in those cheeks.

Pink. It reminded him of her note. The one where she told him that she still loved him. Forgave him. For everything.

"Oh doll, I wish it hadn't been like this. To get me to understand. To know how you feel. About us. I would do anything to take away your pain. Come on babe, open those eyes." Hyde looked anxiously at Jackie's face. Still nothing, so he continued talking. He'd seen that work on TV before.

"I'm not groveling until you open those eyes. I want to make sure that you hear every word I say. You need to hear every word. And believe it. You just need to open your eyes. I'll do the talking. Come on, how many times am I going to offer to do that? I'll do it for a lifetime, just open those eyes."

He couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw a flutter of lashes that time. Maybe it was his imagination. But he couldn't take that chance. Hyde began talking faster, and with more urgency in his voice.

"Baby, I'm here. You're okay, it's all going to be okay. Jackie, I love you. I've been a fool. Okay, I've been a dumbass. Guess Forman really gave me the title when he left. Well, it's time to give it back. I'm not using it anymore. I'm here. Just squeeze my hand, just a little bit."

And that time, it wasn't Hyde's imagination. Jackie's tiny hand started to twitch in his. Then the fingers started flexing and wrapping around his fingers. Like the perfect fit they used to be.

He couldn't help himself now. No matter how lame he sounded, she was coming back. To life. And hopefully, to him.

"Baby….Jackie….doll. I'm here. Your puddin' pop is here."

He looked at her face. Slowly. Ever so slowly. But it was happening. Jackie's eyelashes flittered. First just a twitch. Then halfway, then back down again. Then they opened. For real.

Hyde kicked the chair back so he could move up by Jackie's head. Without letting go of her hand, he carefully turned Jackie's beautiful face towards his. So she could see that he was there.

"It's okay Jackie, Don't try to talk, there's a tube in your throat. I'm here. You're at the hospital. You're going to be okay." Hyde closed his eyes and silently thanked a god he wasn't sure existed for bringing her back. He couldn't help it, a tear came down his cheek. When he opened his eyes, and he looked into Jackie's mismatched eyes, he saw the tears in her eyes beginning to brim. And he knew that she had seen his.

"I love you Jackie" He pressed the button near Jackie's bed for the nursing station. Anxiously calling into it, Hyde yelled "Miss Burkhart's awake. Please hurry" He looked back down at Jackie and brushed away her tears that were coming down both of her cheeks.

"They'll be here soon. I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you. Not this time. Not anymore. Not while there's a breath in my body. This time, I'm fighting. For you, for me, for us. Now blink if you understand me…"

Jackie closed her eyes and then opened them. Never taking her eyes off of Hyde's face. He looked so tired, she thought. She wondered if she was dreaming. She was hearing all these things coming out of her Steven's mouth. Things she ached for so long to hear. Maybe she was dead, and this was what heaven was. But if she was dead, she was pretty sure that she would be able to talk. Some things just went on into the afterlife and her ability to talk would probably be one of them. So she figured she wasn't dead.

Now, all she had to do was figure out if she was dreaming.

The next few minutes were filled with commotion in Jackie's room. Doctors and nurses came flying in and out of the room. It took almost a Herculean effort on their part to get Hyde to back away enough for them to examine Jackie. But he stayed within her eyesight the entire time. The tube was removed from Jackie's throat and a nurse brought in some ice chips to start soothing the pain and rehydrating her throat. Hyde picked up the container and slowly began feeding the chips to Jackie.

"Mmmmm" That was the best noise he'd ever heard. Hyde couldn't believe how happy a sound could make him. And it didn't even have anything to do with sex.

"Does that help?" He smiled, getting another spoonful of chips ready to give Jackie. She nodded. She couldn't believe that he was there. With her. Feeding her ice chips.

"Steven…" Jackie wasn't sure if she was talking above a whisper it hurt so badly.

Hyde leaned forward and placed a finger over Jackie's dry mouth. "shh, baby. Don't try to talk yet. I know that's hard for you. We've got a lot to talk about. But we don't have to do that yet. We've got time. I just want you to focus on getting better right now. And I'm not leaving."

Slowly, the corners of Jackie's mouth began to turn upwards, into a smile. Her Steven was back. As she got another spoonful of ice chips fed to her, Jackie noticed that Hyde was starting to smile too.